So I have News. Good news. Things are Starting to Happen…

First, I have officially entered my first short story writing contest (sponsored by The Writer magazine and Gotham Writer’s Workshop)! Submissions are due by April 30, with winners (top three submissions) notified by August 15; I submitted yesterday and received my official notice that they received my submission this morning. The contest is limited to 2,000 word stories; I submitted “Story Hour”, which was posted on the blog last Saturday.

This will be the first of several contests that I will enter this year. In addition to a short story or two, I hope to also submit several Flash Fiction pieces (for more information on Flash Fiction, see this past Monday’s post. I do not intend to be profligate with contests, but do want to get my writing out in front of as large an audience as possible, and so will try to select appropriate opportunities and keep you apprised of how things go. Not only does a contest offer the possibility of winning/success (obviously very cool things and high on my list of Things That Would Be Great), of course, but it also offers the possibility of positive feedback – actually, of ANY feedback – which is also important. I have been surprised at how difficult it is to not receive regular feedback – not to be told that a particular piece is/is not on track, not to have anything to compare my writing to or against. I feel like Lisa Simpson, and find myself wanting to scream “GRADE ME!!” at the top of my lungs some days… (teehee) So while it would be incredible to win, I am also thinking it would be pretty great if I could get feedback of any kind on at least one submission at some point.
Continue reading Surprise, Surprise: The Ball is Actually Rolling!